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Friday, 4 April 2014

Who remembers the campfire story that Gordie Lachance told about a kid called Lardass Hogan in the 1986 Classic 'Stand by me'?

The film, directed by Rob Reiner, based on a Stephen King short story tells the story of four boys on a journey to find the body of a missing boy. During the journey Geordie tells the story of a boy, a competition and revenge...

"Well this kid is our age but he's fat, real fat. He weighs close to one-eighty. But you know it's not his fault it's his glands.Well all the kids instead of calling him Davie they call him Lardass; Lardass Hogan. Even his little brother and sister call him Lardass. At school they put a sticker on his back that says 'wide load,' and they rank him out and beat him up whenever they got a chance. But one day he gets an idea. The greatest revenge-idea a kid ever had...."

The part was played by actor Andy Lindberg, and Retro LadyLand had the chance to chat to him about it...

How did you get the part? What was the description of the part?

"A former acting teacher of mine, Beth
Harper, who still teaches theatre at The Portland Actors Conservatory
(www.actorsconservatory.com) knew someone who was acting as a local casting agent
for the film. She told some friends and I about it and we made arrangements to
go in to audition.

When we went in initially, I had no idea
what roles were being cast. All we knew at that point was that the movie was
based on a Steven King book and it took place in the 1950’s. So the three of us
put on white t-shirts, blue jeans, and Converse and went in. The first audition
was just each of us on camera (a camcorder, I’m sure) saying our name, height,
weight, and any acting credits. I think I even screwed up my first try and I
recall doing a second."

Did you audition for any other part in the film?

"Somehow I then heard that the movie was to
be based on Stephen King’s novella The
Body from the book Different Seasons.
So I began to read it. The timeline begins to get a bit fuzzy here, but I had a
second audition, reading from the script. I cannot really remember what I read,
but I began to hope that they were considering me for the role of VERN.

I later heard from a friend at the Civic
Theatre that they were considering me for LARDASS. I remember being
disappointed, but not heart broken, as I was still in the running for something. I DO recall reading the book,
getting to the LA chapter and thinking, “Oh no. I bet THIS is what they’ll cast
me as!”"

What did you have to do for the audition?

"I
read from the script at the second audition. I’m not sure what scene. I know
that I read Vern’s “goucher” speech for my final audition."

So how many pies did you actually have
to eat?

"I did some estimating once and calculated
that based on the number of shots and the number of takes I must have put my
face into several hundred pies.

I have never liked pie. I didn’t like it
before the film, and I am not a huge fan now. In fact, on a few

occasions I
have been served a pie or cobbler with a blueberry filling and it has triggered
my gag reflex!

The Pie Eat began on our second day of
shooting (Monday). Some bakery in Eugene, Oregon showed up each morning on-set
with hundreds of real blueberry pies. Real pies. The pies had ben baked with
care and even had rock sugar on top- which cut my face. I had tiny cuts on my
nose from forcing my way into the pies."

How did they rig the sick 'hose'?

"The first attempt at vomiting was done with
a power washer filled with blueberry pie filling. Poor Dick Durock was blasted
with several hundred PSI of pie! That, needless to say, did not work.

In the end they built a rig made from a
ten-gallon cylinder with a plunger on top and a hosepipe at the bottom. The
hose then snaked along the floor, up my leg, beneath my shirt to the side of my
face away from camera. They taped the hose to the side of my face!

Five guys (at least) would push on the
plunger, forcing the mixture of blueberry pie filling and large curd cottage
cheese out through the 3 inch hose that was literally attached to the side of
my face with tape.

All I had to do was open mouth as wide as
possible and turn my head. From that moment on in the shoot there was not a
second that some part of me wasn’t sticky with pie filling.

Smaller versions of the rig were built for
the other guys on the dais who threw up."

And what was in the 'vomit'?

"Blue
berry pie filling mixed with large curd cottage cheese."

You've obviously trimmed down a
bit since then(!) did being in the movie help any negative feelings (if you did
have some) your peers had to your size?

"I
struggle with my weight to this day.

LARDASS was meant to be huge, cartoony
huge, and with that in mind I wore a fat suit. The suit consisted of both top
and bottom padding and was very hot. The crew was very sweet and would bring me
water or cold RC cola whenever I asked.

People on the film were sensitive to the
fact that I was an obese young man playing a character that was shamed for being
fat, and so they took pains to point out that I was wearing a fat suit, so it wasn’t really ME that was being made
fun of. I had no problem with it, but it does help that I was not, and have
never been anywhere close to wearing the size 60 waist Levis I wore in the film.

Being
known for playing a character named LARDASS is an invitation for people to
comment upon or at least consider my size. In my experience the type of person
who would have a negative thing to say about my size vis-à-vis the role is the
kind of asshole who would have thought less of me because of my size anyway!

My
general response is “what beloved American film were YOU in?”"

Nice...

What was it like for you once the
film came out?

"I told all my friends that I would see it
with them when it came, so I ended up seeing it many, many times in the
theatre. The first time was with my family at the (now gone) Southgate Cinema
in Milwaukie, Oregon. It was rather surreal. Up to the moment I saw my scene
for the first time I only had my own, first person memories of the various
shots. Suddenly, here was an outside eye showing me my own life (as it were).
Those first few viewings were the closest to an out of body experience I may
ever have!

Though the role gave me a certain notoriety
I didn’t seek out promotion. It did make for an easy conversation starter at
parties!"

Did you meet the other guys in the
cast? If so what were they like?

"I
briefly met the other boys, though I do not have recall of it. They were on set
and in town during my shoot. It was their vacation. You can see a picture on my
website of my walking back to my trailer to get clean, with Will Weaton in the
foreground.

I
recall my brother asking who “the quiet guy” was. He was asking about River
Phoenix.

I
also remember that during a cast and crew softball game it became clear that NO
ONE like Corey Feldman. Poor guy. But he WAS acting like an ass during the game,
however."

Did you ever laugh when you
shouldn't have? Did anyone else?

"I
don’t recall breaking up. But I remember a few takes when The Mayor throws up
on his wife, the vomit went straight into her bra and inflated her bosom like a
balloon. There was quite a bit of laughter at that."

How long did the filming
take?

"We
shot for five days."

Do you know how much fake vomit
was 'squirted' on the audience?

"To shoot the crowd vomiting, numbered
ziplock bags (1, 2, 3) were passed around. Before the camera rolled the extras
put the pie filling in their mouths, trying to look natural. When your number
was called you barfed out your pie filling.

They shot it many times, so, certainly
gallons of the stuff were used.

My own vomit was 10 gallons each time. I
was sticky head to toe for most of the shoot."

What was Rob Reiner like to work
for? What direction did he give you?

"My first on-set interaction with Rob Reiner
was after the hairdresser had buzzed all of my hair off except for a funny
little forelock that poked out, kind of like Tintin’s hair. I was marched over
to Rob and he had them zip it off."

I remember Rob being very kind and funny. I
was used to working cooperatively in the theatre, and so, being the naïve child
actor that I was, I would offer my thoughts on this shot or that moment. My
suggestions were always welcomed. I think, in part because I was offering to do
more than they expected me to do, or, I hope, because it was just a good idea.

I DO recall that Reiner lost his patience
with the extras during the crowd shots and kind of gave them a talking-to over
the megaphone. I was thankful that he never had a reason to turn that ire on
me."

How old were you when you appeared
as Lardass?

"I
was 14 years old."

How does it feel to be an integral
part of one of (in my humble opinion) the greatest movies ever made (as constantly included in
polls)?

"“Greatest movies ever made” is pushing it a
bit!

I think others might agree with me too...

Still, it is a strange blessing to have an event that took place nearly 30
years ago be such a positive presence in my life. There was a time when the
attention could be a little overwhelming, but that ended long ago. I will say
the film still has a lot of street cred. Most younger people don’t know the
film as well and often they give me attention because their parents are huge
fans! That makes me feel old, for sure.

The attention from people who enjoyed the
film is probably the largest legacy in my life from the movie. It gave people
with whom I had no connection, or acquaintance the opportunity to connect."

How often do you drop it into
conversation?

"I very seldom discuss it (but am happy to do so). If you
were in a film I loved, I’d want to hear about it from you, too!"

So, when did you slim down?

"I’ve
gone up and down since high school. With LARDASS as a credit it was always
suggested that I stay big for my career. Most recently I’ve worked with a
personal trainer to stay healthy in a meaningful way, not just dieting."

Why didn't you continue with a
film career?

"Though my family was very supportive of my
acting as a kid, I would never have thought to ask them to move to LA, and that
was what would have had to happen for a film career. Portland, Oregon was
always going to be the next big movie city, but that didn’t happen.

Truth be told, I have always looked at
acting as a very selfish endeavor. I did it because I enjoyed it. I wasn’t
interested in changing lives with it, or educating audiences. I had a great
time performing."

And after...?

"I almost studied Theatre in college, but,
again, I just felt selfish about that. In the end I have had a variety of
amazing careers, mainly in science education. (I used to travel around rural
Alaska with a live American alligator!)

Annnd in 2008 I dropped it all and moved to
New York to pursue acting! Life is dumb sometimes."

And now...?

"The project I’m most excited about,
currently, is an Oregon history podcast called Kick Ass Oregon History. http://www.orhistory.com.
Soon to be released weekly, the podcast is a partnership between myself and
longtime friend Doug Kenck-Crispin, who is pursuing his Masters in Public
History from Portland State University. The podcast is a rather irreverent mix
of history, commentary, and music, all with the goal of having fun learning
about my home state of Oregon.